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Timberland Helps Haiti Plant 2 Million Trees, And Counting

"The pilot program represents a break with the traditional development model that often lasts only as long as the external funding," said Hugh Locke, co-founder and president of the Smallholder Farmers Alliance. "Following the pilot's success, we will launch the next agroforestry cooperative in July when we begin working with the next group of 2,000 farmers in a different location. We're planning to follow with many more cooperatives as the nation's farmers start to take the lead in restoring the tree cover – without which no country can prosper sustainably."

The true test of the success of this program came when farmers throughout
Haiti lost between 40 and 70 percent of their crops as a result of hurricanes Isaac and Sandy last year. Income from tree sales enabled cooperative members to purchase extra seed to replant their storm-damaged fields, and the cooperative took care of each other without turning to government or donor sources for assistance.

Timberland continues to be the principal sponsor of the Smallholder Farmers Alliance, and has collaborated with NGO's including the Clinton Global Initiative to identify a customer base and sustainable market based solutions for the members of the farmer cooperative. To learn more about Timberland's tree planting efforts visit
http://community.timberland.com/tree-planting.

About Timberland

Timberland, a wholly owned subsidiary of VF Corporation, is a global leader in the design, engineering and marketing of premium-quality footwear, apparel and accessories for consumers who value the outdoors and their time in it. Timberland markets products under the Timberland
®, Timberland PRO
®, Mountain Athletics
®, and Timberland Boot Company
® brands, all of which offer quality workmanship and detailing and are built to withstand the elements of nature. The company's products can be found in leading department and specialty stores as well as Timberland
® retail stores throughout
North America,
Europe,
Asia,
Latin America,
South America,
South Africa and the Middle East. Timberland's dedication to making quality products is matched by the company's commitment to "doing well and doing good" -- forging powerful partnerships among employees, consumers and service partners to transform the communities in which they live and work. To learn more about Timberland, please visit
www.timberland.com.

About Smallholder Farmers Alliance

The Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) is a non-governmental organization that works with small-scale farmers in
Haiti to help restore tree cover and increase food production. The SFA creates agroforestry cooperatives designed to be self-financing and farmer-managed following a limited period of training and external funding. This innovative, market-based development model results in the planting of significant numbers of trees as well as higher food crop yields and improved livelihoods in rural communities. To lean more about the Smallholder Farmers Alliance, please visit
www.smallholderfarmersalliance.org.